Will Supervalu Find a Buyer?

The grocery chain, which operates more than 2,500 stores around the country, wants to find a buyer willing to take all of it at once, but that may be a tall order, according to an analysis published by Bloomberg.

Several companies have expressed interest in pieces of Supervalu's vast empire, including private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management and fellow supermarket operator Royal Ahold NV, Bloomberg reports. But Supervalu's multiple brands, including Jewell-Osco, Save-A-Lot and Albertsons, have different strengths and weaknesses, which makes it challenging to market them as a whole.

According to one analyst:

“It's going to be very difficult to sell Supervalu as a whole,” Charles Cerankosky, a Cleveland-based analyst at Northcoast Research Holdings LLC, said in an interview. “The most likely scenario, as opposed to what the board or management would like to do, is the company ends up being broken into pieces.”